Subscribers Bemoan Hitches In Porting

Few weeks after the introduction of Mobile Number Portability, MNP, in Nigeria, subscribers have been complaining about the hitches experienced in porting.

Speaking with P.M.NEWS Business Week, Adesola Adekunle, a civil servant lamented over the delay and hitches he encountered when he wanted to switch to a new service provider ’’ I was expecting the kickoff of the Mobile Porting will bring about efficiency in service delivery or perhaps improve the poor network quality but it seems subscribers will have to wait a bit for this to happen. Actually, I don’t expect a sudden change but I think the service providers could have been compelled to run  series of tests before it is officially lunched to enhance smooth take off’’ he fumed.

Another subscriber, Felix Uba, criticized the idea of being tie down to a particular network for 90 days. According to NCC Boss ‘’A subscriber can port to another operator. However, you will be restricted from porting your number to a third operator within 90 days of a previous port; you can port your number as many times as you like in a given year. This means there is a 90-day restriction before your next port. But to Uba , the time frame is too long’ ‘’ I’ll prefer to switch SIM cards rather than being held to a particular service provider for a period of 90 days. Not even cases where there are network hitches and you can’t  be assured of making call efficiently’’ he stated.

Mrs. Mary Ugwu, a business woman, complained of not being able to make calls after porting while short messages sent to his friends were not delivered. She revealed that she has been anxiously waiting for MNP since it was first announced but expressed dissatisfaction at the hitches that trailed its take off. She is however, happy that NCC summed up the courage to start the policy and appealed to Nigerians to be patient and give NCC and all the service providers time to improve on the hitches.

As found out by this medium, many Nigerians are gradually realizing the need for mobile porting as they have started putting the idea to test. Though, the regulatory authority and the service providers have been running series of adverts and promos, both on Radio and Television, there is still need to enlighten the public the more. Though some subscribers who interacted with this medium are aware the policy had started, they are not fully armed with the necessary information on the conditions attached and how to switch from one network provider to the other.

MNP was officially launched in Nigeria April this year. Shedding light on the importance of the newly introduced MNP, the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Dr. Eugene Juwah said “With the launch of number portability today, consumers of telecommunications services will no longer need to acquire new numbers in other to move from one network service provider to another. They will simply take along their existing numbers with them to any network of their choice. The power and freedom of choice will henceforth rest with the consumer”.

This means, with MNP, there won’t be any need for subscribers to acquire two or more SIM cards, changing of old mobile number in business cards, letter-heads, billboards, among others, while the use of network prefixes; that identifies each service provider will be a thing of the past.

—Femi Ayodele